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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

My Treatment History

My local oncologist, Dr. Shapiro, retired. Switching to another oncologist, I realized once again how complicated my treatment history is. The new doctor will flip through my massive chart, but she wasn't there. And I have come to realize over the years just how important a good understanding of the treatment history is critical for a doctor to evaluate new potential treatment options (one key example). A couple summary paragraphs that keep getting re-edited on previous medical notes do not do justice. Knowing my new doctor would have to piece together my past from a big pile of far-from-comprehensive medical notes, I drew up my own birds-eye chart, One Guy's Colon Cancer Treatment Path, which is my cancer treatment history in Microsoft Project format. She actually appreciated it and it made our initial "tell me your history" appointment more profitable.

I am making this available for fellow colon cancer survivors so they might know a little of what to expect or have at least some other reference for which to compare. Every person's path is different, but seeing someone else's might be of some help. For the rest of you - my support team - you might appreciate from it just how far we've come. A good time to reflect and give thanks.

6 comments:

shannon
said...

Wow, Greg - Your Chemo Path chart remided me of my church history chart I turned in at WTS.... How great for you to be able to show that to others. I'm trying to think about what I would chart in my own life. I am afraid too much of it would be junk food eating, late night movie watching and e-mailing. Not exactly a helpful legacy. We love you. Hug Christine.

I'm thankful that you have shared so much of this trial with myself and others. Yes, I am thankful that I know one of the bravest people in the world who has kept fighting when most would have quit.Greg - we're all thankful for you!!!

Greg, It is so good to hear from you. Though we have not heard much from you for a while, you are often in our thoughts.May our Lord grant your new doctor with wisdom and the steadfastness to study your case in great detail, be inspired, and be motivated to discover the secret of your success, and turn them into a major contribution to the medical world, not to say in honoring to God.Do you think that you deserve an honorary M.D. in Medicine?The other day, I flipped thru an old Scientic American magazine. I came across this joke in a study on humor, I hope that it will light up your heart as it did mine. It goes like this: Sherlock Holms and Dr. Watson went camping. They pitched their tent and soon rested after dinner.In the middle of the night Sherlock Holms suddenly woke up and shook Dr.Watson violently. "Watson! What do you see?" asked Sherlock. Dr. Watson opened his eyes, stared upward for a while and said:"I see millions of stars....... why?". "What do you make of all this?" Sherlocked asked. Dr.Watson thought for a long while and said:"Out of these millions of stars, if only a couple have planets like ours, there just might be lifeforms out there". "No!!! said Sherlock, "Some one has stolen our tent".So, is this seeing the trees and miss the forest or vice versa? This little joke actually has a lot of relevance and resemblances to our observation of God's Word, isn't it?May God's good and perfect will be done thru you, that true beauty, true meaning, and true value outflows from us udner all circumstances......

Greg, I can imagine that this 30,000-foot view of your journey would be very helpful to an oncologist trying to absorb how you got where you are.You once showed me a different chart of the same information that you had drawn up. It had symbols and icons and was less gridlike than a Gantt chart. It looked like something Edward Tufte would have devised. Do you still have that? Have you revisited it?

Thanks, Greg, for sharing this with us -- a visual reminder of what a grueling journey you've been on. I think it's easy for me to forget that, since I'm not the only going through it! And because you are doing it with such grace.blessings!

We are thanking God with you, in Jesus's Holy Name for where you are and where you're headed.Your treatment history makes me think that if engineers like you were in charge of medical treatment in this country we would be way better off.